How to start an action figure collection
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| please be careful with my head..ouch! |
Collecting action figures can be an incredibly fun and rewarding hobby. It can make you feel like a kid again. It can help you celebrate your love for your favourite movie, comic book or TV show. And, if you buy carefully, it can become a great financial investment, as many figures reach values of hundreds of dollars on the collectible market.
• Why do I want to collect action figures?
• Where should I start looking to begin my collection?
• How should I collect and display my action figures?
Why?
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| my hand!!! my hand!!! aahhh!!! |
Are you a fan of a particular movie? Then you may want to limit your collection to action figures based on the movie (e.g., collecting only Star Wars figures). Are you a comic book fan? Then you may want to focus your collection on only Batman or Spider-Man figures.
Limiting your collection to just one or two themes will keep you from spending willy-nilly on any old action figure that catches your eye. Not having a focus can lead to a mish-mash collection of figures that, down the road, you may consider impulse purchases and ultimately a waste of your money.
Perhaps you're looking to find all of those great action figures that you had as a kid. This can be an expensive but greatly rewarding and nostalgic way of collecting.
Or maybe you're simply a fan of the craftsmanship put into action figures. Therefore, you may want to focus your collection on figures that have excellent sculpts and paint jobs. This could make for a very beautiful collection as each new figure is added.
Where?
Once you've gotten a good idea on why you want to collect action figures, you can start your collection by making some smart first purchases. Start out by doing a little research by reading online action figure news sites and fan forums. They'll let you know what's hot and what's not.
Great places to find action figures:
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| Toyz Crazi Main Shoppe |
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| Toyz Crazi Main Shoppe |
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| check out Toyz Crazi in China Square Central at Chinatown |
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| my little girl with Toyz Crazi owner and good friend Andrew Tan |
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| welcome to Ubis |
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| one weekend visit at Ubis |
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| check out Ubis in Paradiz Centre at Selegie Road |
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| check out The Falcon Hangar in Waterloo Centre at Waterloo Street |
• Websites that specialize in action figures: These sites are great for finding newer action figures that may be tougher to find in stores. You're usually guaranteed that they'll be in good condition.
• Thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets: Some sellers just don't know what they have, so you stand a good chance of finding vintage action figures for a fraction of their going rate on the collectible market. They may be in worse condition (missing paint, missing accessories, etc.), so you you'll have to decide how important condition is to you.
How?
If you're not careful in your purchases, you could end up with a massive collection with no rhyme or reason taking up every square inch of available space in your home, garage, storage unit and trunk of your car. This ultimately does not make for a satisfying collection.
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| Ironman I movie Hot Toys collection |
If you're not careful in your purchases, you could end up with a massive collection with no rhyme or reason taking up every square inch of available space in your home, garage, storage unit and trunk of your car. This ultimately does not make for a satisfying collection.
As mentioned before, have a clear idea of which action figures you want to collect and stick to it, no matter how much you may be tempted by another figure that doesn't fit in to your theme.
Action Figure Terms & Abbreviations
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| cool..never knew these terms before |
What do they mean by "MOC"? Why does everyone keep talking about "ROC" lately? What toy line is often labelled "POTF"? It can get a bit confusing for first-time forays into the world of online collector communities, so we thought it would be a fun idea to attempt a list of some of the most commonly seen terms and abbreviations found in the world of action figures.
We've chosen to break them up into categories as best as we could, and will ad more to this list as they become available.
Condition Terms & Abbreviations
MOC: Mint on card
MIB: Mint in box
MIP: Mint in package
NRFB/NRFP: Never removed from box/package
M: Mint
NM: Near mint
VG: Very good
G: Good
HTF: Hard to find
VHTF: Very hard to find
Boxed: Figure is still in original box.
Loose: Figure is no longer in it's original box or card.
Complete: Figure has all of its original accessories.
Punched: The hole used to hang the card on a peg in stores has been knocked out.
Unpunched: The hole used to hang the card on a peg in stores has not been knocked out.
CNP: Complete with no package (usually the same as "Complete")
AO: All original
EX: Exclusive
PRO: Prototype figure (often extremely rare)
CON EX: Convention exclusive (could only be obtained at a special convention)
FS: Factory sealed
Shortpacked: Means that less of one particular figure was released than the other figures in that line. VAR: Variation
Mail Away: Figure could only be obtained through a mail in offer from the toy's manufacturer or other promotion.
LE: Limited Edition
Buy/Sell/Trade Terms & Abbreviations:
FS: For Sale
FT/TT: For Trade/To Trade
WTB: Want to Buy
Brands and Toy Lines Abbreviations:
HAS: Hasbro
HAS: Hasbro
MAT/Matty: Mattel
KEN: Kenner
TB: Toy Biz
TRU: Toy R Us
EP1: Episode 1
ROTS: Revenge of the Sith
CW: Clone Wars
POTF: Power of the Force
POTJ: Power of the Jedi
SOTE: Shadows of the Empire
JOE: G.I. Joe
RAH: Real American Hero (G.I. Joe)
ROC: Rise of Cobra (G.I. Joe)
RES: Resolute (G.I. Joe)
MOTU: Masters of the Universe
MOTUC: Masters of the Universe Classics
TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
BTAS: Batman the Animated Series
LOB: Legends of Batman
LOTDK: Legends of the Dark Knight (Batman)
PR: Power Rangers
SLU: Starting Line Up
FF: Fantastic Four
ML: Marvel Legends
MU: Marvel Universe
DCU: DC Universe
DCUC: DC Universe Classics
With these terms and abbreviations, you can be sounding like a lifelong collector in no time, or at least understand what the other people are talking about, which could save a novice collector from an embarrassing situation or even a bad purchase or trade.
You will probably come across many other mysterious abbreviations as new ones are being created everyday, and once they catch on, the spread like wildfire, so keep your eyes peeled and you'll do just fine out there.
Displaying Action Figures
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| smile for the camera Tony.. will give u back your arc reactor in no time |
A lot of thought should be put into how to display your figures. This is just as important for building a satisfying collection as which figures you buy. Many furniture and department stores sell beautiful display cases with shelves and glass doors. These are ideal for displaying collections in a specific area of your house or office, and help keep your collection from spreading all over the place. If you can't find a nice display case, a couple of tall, matching bookshelves work just as nicely.
One Last Thought: Loose or Mint?
This is a major debate among action figure collectors.
"Loose" refers to action figures that have been taken out of their packages, in order to display them in poses and holding their accessories (weapons, gear, etc.). Some collectors feel that this lowers the value of an action figure, but other collectors, who are less worried about the collectible re-sale value, prefer displaying their figures loose for the fun they get from displaying them "in action."
"Mint" can refer to action figures that are in the condition in which they were displayed in stores, in their original packages, with the packages in brand new condition. You may see terms on collectible and auction sites like "MIB" (mint in box), "MIP" (mint in package), or "NM" (near mint, meaning the figure is still in the package but has some wear and tear on the packaging).
This is a purely personal choice and can be equally rewarding for the collector, so be sure to give it some thought.
Now Start Collecting!
This should give you a good feel as to how to begin your new hobby of action figure collecting. But never forget the first and most important rule: have fun!
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